David W. Armstrong's Shires Babies, commonly known by the shortened title Shires Babies, is an American animated television series that aired from September 10, 1983 to November 3, 1990 on ABC. The show portrays childhood versions of the Shiresland living together in a nursery under the care of a human woman identified only as Penny the Granny (the whereabouts of their parents are never addressed), who appears in almost every episode, but her face is never visible; only the babies' view of her pink skirt, purple sweater, and distinctive green and white striped socks is shown. The idea of presenting the Shiresland as children first appeared in a dream sequence in The Shiresland Take Australia (1983), released two months before Shires Babies debuted, in which Michelle Mouse imagined what it would be like if she and Matthew Mouse had grown up together.

Shires Babies was produced by Matthew Mouse Productions, Sunshire Productions and Melvin Productions. The rights are now held by The Michael Shires Company, which separately acquired both the Shiresland characters and Melvin. Although the episodes were 30 minutes (including commercials), it was typically shown in 60 and even 90 minute blocks during the peak of its popularity. Outside the United States, the show was distributed by Michael Shires Television.


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